Two runs enough for Trevor Williams and the Pirates to defeat the Cardinals

It wasn’t pretty at times but when it mattered, Trevor Williams kept the Cardinals offense in check en route to a 2-1 victory Friday night.

Williams went seven innings, giving up nine hits with just one earned run and a 5-1 K/BB ratio. Overall, Williams’ called strikes plus whiffs (CSW) rate was 31.1%.

His four-seam fastball drew 11 whiffs on 30 swings.

Through most of the game, it looked as though the Pirates offense would be hard-pressed to get a second run after the first-inning home run from Adam Frazier, and with St. Louis putting runners on base, it seemed it was only a matter of time before the floodgates opened.

They never did. Williams got out of a jam time and time again.

The final blow was dealt when Starling Marte knocked in the winning run off Andrew Miller in the top of the eighth. The Pirates combo of Kyle Crick (who also had us sweating) and Felipe Vazquez took care of the rest.

For game three, Jordan Lyles squares off against Miles Mikolas today at 2:15 EST.